Sports glove with gripping power

ABSTRACT

A sports glove that increases grip strength to enhance an athlete&#39;s performance in any sport. The increase in grip strength generated by the Vpower sports glove of the invention is brought about by sewing the index finger and middle finger together and the ring finger and pinky finger together so that the pairs of fingers act as one finger. The Vpower glove forces the wearer to use the power of two fingers on every grip and immediately increases the gripping strength of the wearer without any additional effort and this increase in grip strength is permanent.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/441,685 filed on Feb. 11, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to sports gloves. More particularly, the invention relates to a sports glove designed to increase and maximize the grip strength of an athlete to improve athletic performance in a variety of sports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of gloves in sports is well known in the art. The type of glove used in a sport depends on the particular sport whether it is football, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, martial arts, wrestling, cycling or other sports. The design and construction of sports gloves for each sport is focused mainly on protecting the athlete's hands from injury when catching or throwing a ball, swinging a racquet, lifting weights, throwing punches etc. A majority of sports gloves also focus on enhancing the grip of the glove by applying sticky material such as rubber or other synthetic material to the catching surface of the glove to improve tackiness and aid in the gripping function whether it is for catching a ball or holding a bat, a racquet, or a golf club. Some grip enhancing sport gloves in the prior art have suction cups attached to the catching surface of the glove as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,392 (Albert); U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,593 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,403 (Sajovic).

More important than the tackiness and stickiness of the catching surface of a sports glove is the ability of the glove to provide grip strength which has a significant impact on an athlete's performance. In general, gloves that increase grip strength enhance athletic performance. None of the artificially generated gripping surfaces of sports gloves in the prior art assist with increasing the grip strength of the athlete which is critical to the athletes performance.

Sports gloves in the prior art with other grip enhancing features include the use of springs sewn into the glove overlying each of the user's fingers to impose a selective gripping force as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,914 (Mitchell) or a glove incorporating an elastic strap through which various tension forces can be applied for imposing an auxiliary gripping force on the individual fingers of the user, the force being adjustable while wearing the glove as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,306 (Mitchell). By selectively applying gripping force to each finger of the user of the glove, these prior art gloves do not necessarily increase the overall grip strength of the athlete which is required to improve athletic performance.

When each finger of a traditional or prior art glove works independent of the other fingers, the gripping strength of individual fingers is very weak. When a normal glove is worn in any sport, the fingers work independently and therefore, when catching a ball, tackling, holding a bat or engaging the glove in other activity that requires gripping strength, the player's grip is significantly weaker because they are not utilizing their full gripping strength potential because they often try to hold a bat, catch a ball or make a tackle with only one finger and the grip strength of one finger is very small.

When an object is held simultaneously with two fingers, the two fingers work as one, resulting in the generation of greater grip strength. The increase in grip strength is double or significantly more powerful than just trying to grip with one finger. A traditional glove does not enhance grip strength because all five fingers of the hand are separated and therefore the ability to have two fingers work as one when holding an object is substantially limited.

The present invention, the “Vpower” glove overcomes the deficiency in the prior art for sports gloves that increase grip strength. The increase in grip strength for the sports glove of the present invention is generated by the use of two fingers of the hand working as one when using the glove. In order for the sports glove of the present invention to facilitate the use of two fingers working as one to enhance grip strength, two sets of double fingers are created by sewing the index finger and middle finger of the glove closely together and the ring finger and the pinkie finger closely together from the bottom of the fingers to past the middle knuckle of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of the fingers in an exemplary embodiment of the invention. When wearing the resulting glove, the user is forced to use the connected fingers as one, thus increasing the gripping strength and full use of the maximum possible gripping power.

Prior art conceiving the concomitant use of two or more fingers together include, U.S. Pat. No. 7,431,657 (Whitehead, II et al.) which describes a grip-enhanced sports glove for bowling that uses an elastomeric, control/grip-enhancing material that circumferences the finger tips of at least one finger providing a similar shape and feel to the commonly used cylindrical insert grips. US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2009/0025120 (Vestling) describes a tri-finger multi sport glove covering the index finger, middle finger, thumb and a portion of the wrist of a hand.

More particularly, prior art that describes the concept of stitching together glove fingers include, U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,068 (DeLong) and US Pat. Appl. No. 2008/0282445 (Taliento et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,068 to DeLong is a two fingered baseball glove with the index and the middle finger joined by a web sewn into the center line of both fingers in a three-panel stitch and primarily serves to train the fingers to remain in the proper pitching position. US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2008/0282445 to Taliento et al. provides inserts between the fingers of the glove, webbing the fingers together and spacing them apart and alternatively one or more inserts provided at least between two of the fingers spacing the fingers apart without webbing to improve the grip of the user and absorption of shock. Neither of these patents envisions sewing two fingers of a glove together to act as one finger to increase grip strength as the present invention does.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a sports glove that provides immediate increase in grip strength when worn by an athlete. The increase in grip strength is achieved through the use of two pairs of fingers of the glove acting as one, forcing all gripping to be done with two fingers simultaneously. The benefits of the immediate increase in grip strength when the glove is worn are significant and enhance the performance of every athlete that requires a strong grip for playing their sport.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the index finger and the middle finger of the glove are stitched closely together from the base of the fingers up past the middle knuckles to the bottom of the top knuckles so that the two fingers act as one when using the glove. In this embodiment, the ring finger and the pinky finger are similarly stitched together to form the second pair of fingers acting as one when the glove is worn and used.

In a modification of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the pairs of index finger and middle finger and the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn together all the way from the bottom of the fingers to the top of the fingers to hold the finger pairs together.

In yet another modification of the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the pairs of the index finger and middle finger and the ring finger and the pinky finger are sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams to enable the fingers to act as one finger.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a modification of the Vpower glove allows the fingers to be held together in groups of two by the use of Velcro. In this embodiment of the Vpower glove, the pairs of index finger and middle finger and the ring finger and pinky finger are held together by Velcro sewn into the finger sections of the glove.

In all the exemplary embodiments of the Vpower glove of the present invention, the wearer of the glove is forced to use the power of two fingers acting as one on every grip and notices an immediate increase in gripping strength without exerting any additional effort. The improvement in gripping power is immediate and permanent while the glove is worn and will always allow for full gripping power in all circumstances while wearing the glove. In all the embodiments of the invention, while the wearer is forced to use two fingers as one, the control of the tips of the fingers is also maintained to allow for the ends of the fingers to grasp and hold any object.

The increase in gripping strength and control when wearing the Vpower sports glove can be experienced for each sport when a standard glove is replaced by the Vpower glove. For instance, in Baseball, the Vpower glove does not allow the little finger to weaken its grip as it happens when using a standard baseball glove and forces the grip to remain strong during the execution of the swing giving the player much greater control of their bat throughout all stages of their swing. In the game of Football, when catching a ball, the Vpower glove gives the receiver the full power of their grip and does not allow the player to try to catch the ball with only one finger or a few fingers. With prior art gloves, a foot ball player often misses a tackle because their grip is weak allowing the receiver to escape, or continue their attack on the ball carrier because the player tries to make the tackle with only one finger or several fingers, but with each finger working a part. The Vpower glove causes the fingers to work together in groups of two to give full strength in every tackle.

In the game of soccer, the use of the Vpower glove with the power of two fingers working together enhances the goalies ability to stop, catch and control the soccer ball. In Golf, the Vpower glove gives the player the full grip strength throughout the entire swing of the club and provides the assurance of the golf club not slipping in their hands when making the swing and greater control of all shots. In Tennis, players often have to use two hands on their backhand stroke because they cannot hold the tennis racket strong in one hand because the force of the ball strike opens the grip of the hand. The Vpower glove provides the full grip strength by forcing two fingers to hold the tennis racket, giving full gripping power with each stroke. In Cycling, including Motorcycling, the use of one finger to pull the clutch when shifting gears numerous times causes significant finger fatigue. The Vpower glove always forces the cyclist to use two fingers on every shift and allows for maximum grip on every shift, without any additional effort providing the cyclist greater control of the shifter and greater control of the cycle or motorcycle.

The exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention also has application in Martial Arts where the use of grip strength is required to grab someone in a sparring match without letting them get away and in wrestling to hold and control an opponent. The use of the Vpower glove also provides immediate gripping strength in other work activities requiring a strong grip such as carpentry, digging, swinging an ax or hammer, holding, drilling and many more that require a firm grip to do more effective work.

A further application of the exemplary embodiment of the present Vpower glove invention is rehabilitation of the grip lost due to stroke or injuries to the hand. For example a stroke victim with a partially paralyzed hand who is not able to work all his fingers is able to hold training and rehabilitation equipment that requires a firm grip, by wearing the Vpower glove which forces the user to always use two fingers and provides the grip strength required to hold the equipment.

These and other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art when reviewed in conjunction with the ensuing description of the drawings, detailed description of the invention and the claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the back side of a traditional sports glove.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the front gripping surface of a traditional sports glove.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the back of an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckle and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of those fingers to the bottom of the top knuckle of those fingers.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the front gripping surface of an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckle and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of those fingers to the bottom of the top knuckle of those fingers.

FIG. 5 is a close up sectional view of the index and middle fingers of a traditional sports glove shown in tandem with the top and bottom of the middle knuckle of each finger.

FIG. 6 is a close up sectional view of the index and middle fingers of an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove shown in tandem with the top and bottom of the middle knuckle of each finger and highlighting the sewing of the two fingers together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of each finger.

FIG. 7 shows a skeletal view of the arrangement of bones in each finger and the separated status of each finger in relation to each other when wearing a traditional sports glove.

FIG. 8 shows a skeletal view of the finger bones and the alignment of the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers when wearing an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the back of yet another exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of those fingers all the way to the top of those fingers.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the front gripping surface of yet another exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of those fingers all the way to the top of those fingers.

FIG. 11 is a close up sectional view of the index and middle fingers of an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove showing the top and bottom of the middle knuckle of the middle finger and highlighting the sewing together of the middle and index fingers from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers.

FIG. 12 shows the skeletal view of the bones of the hand and fingers when wearing yet another exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the back of a modified Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the front gripping surface of a modified Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams.

FIG. 15 is a skeletal view of the hand and fingers when wearing the modified Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams.

FIG. 16 is a detailed view of the back of yet another modification of the Vpower glove of the present invention showing the use of Velcro on the fingers to bind them to form the pairs of the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers.

FIG. 17 is a detailed view of the front gripping surface of yet another modification of the Vpower glove of the present invention showing the use of Velcro on the fingers to bind them to form the pairs of the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the back of the modified Vpower glove using Velcro to bind the index and middle fingers together and the ring and pinky fingers together.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the front gripping surface of the modified Vpower glove using Velcro to bind the index and middle fingers together and the ring and pinky fingers together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a sports glove that is designed to provide increase and maximization of grip strength to the athlete and enhance performance when playing any sport. The Vpower glove of the present invention accomplishes the increase in grip strength when worn through the forceful use of two fingers together when catching a ball, swinging a bat, racquet or golf club or in other sports which require a strong grip with the use of a sports glove.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are the back and front views of a traditional sports glove 10 showing the separated fingers of the hand, thumb 1, index finger 2, middle finger 3, ring finger 4, and pinky finger 5. Each of these fingers of a traditional glove work independently of each other and therefore the gripping strength of each finger is very weak. A player using a traditional glove has a weaker grip because of the use of a single finger to catch a ball, hold a bat, or make a tackle during a game. The Vpower glove of the present invention makes full use of all fingers and is designed and constructed to increase grip strength by forcing the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers to work together as one.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the back and front views of an exemplary embodiment 20A of the Vpower glove of the present invention. In both views, the index finger 2 and middle finger 3 can be seen sewn together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of these fingers and the ring finger 4 and pinky finger 5 are similarly sewn together from the bottom of those fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of those fingers. By sewing the first two fingers and the last two fingers of the gloves together in this manner, the wearer of the glove is forced to use the two fingers sewn together as one while at the same time maintaining control of the tips of the fingers for catching objects whether a ball, a bat or other sport equipment.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a comparison of the close up sectional views of the index 2 and middle 3 fingers of a traditional sport glove and a Vpower glove highlighting the top 2 a and bottom 2 b of the middle knuckle of the index finger 2 and the top 3 a and the bottom 3 b of the middle knuckle of the middle finger 3. In FIG. 5 featuring the traditional glove fingers, the index finger 2 and middle finger 3 are distinctly separated. FIG. 6 shows the index finger 2 and the middle finger 3 of the Vpower glove sewn together all the way from the bottom of the fingers to the top 2 a and 3 a of the middle knuckles and bottom of the top knuckles of these fingers. By forcing the two fingers to work together as one, the gripping power of the fingers is increased and in combination with the ring finger 4 and pinky finger 5 acting as one, the wearer of the glove experiences immediate increase in gripping strength which is permanent throughout the game, enhancing the athlete's performance.

FIG. 7 is a skeletal view 15 of the bones in the hand and fingers when wearing a traditional glove. The fingers can be seen separated and work independently when the glove is worn. FIG. 8 is a skeletal view 25 of the bones in the hand and fingers when wearing an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove where the index finger and middle fingers and the ring finger and pinky fingers are sewn together from the bottom of the fingers to a little above the bottom of the middle knuckle of each finger resulting in the fingers acting as one to increase grip strength when the glove is worn.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are the back and front of yet another exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove where the index finger 2 and the middle finger 3 and the ring finger 4 and the pinky finger 5 are sewn together from the bottom of the fingers to the very top of the fingers so that the fingers act as one to provide grip strength to the user of the glove.

FIG. 11 is a close up sectional view of the index finger 2 and middle finger 3 of an exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove showing the top 3 a and bottom 3 b of the middle knuckle of the middle finger and highlighting the sewing together of the middle finger 3 and index finger 2 from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers.

FIG. 12 shows the skeletal view of the bones of the hand and fingers when wearing the exemplary embodiment of the Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are plan views of the back and the front gripping surface of a modified Vpower glove of the present invention with the index finger 2 and middle finger 3 and the ring finger 4 and the pinky finger 5 sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams at the top. This embodiment of the glove forces the two pairs of fingers to act as one when the glove is worn to increase the grip strength of the wearer.

FIG. 15 is a skeletal view 45 of the hand and fingers when wearing the modified Vpower glove of the present invention with the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams.

FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show detailed views of the back and front gripping surface of yet another modification of the Vpower glove of the present invention showing the use of Velcro on the fingers to bind them to form the pairs of the index and middle fingers and the ring and pinky fingers. The figures show the hook side of the Velcro extended out from the index finger 2 and pinky finger 5 and the soft side of the Velcro sewn into the fingers.

FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 show the back and front gripping surface of a modification of the Vpower glove with the Velcro feature for binding the pairs of fingers together to act as one. In these figures, the index finger 2 and the middle finger 3 and the ring finger 4 and the pinky finger 5 are held together by Velcro. Binding the fingers together in this fashion forces the fingers to act as one leading to increased grip strength for the wearer of the glove.

The foregoing description of the present invention through its figures and preferred embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. It should be understood and obvious to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention thus described may be further modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. 

1. A sports glove comprising: a back surface; a front gripping surface; a set of five fingers to cover the thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky finger; said index finger and middle finger sewn and held substantially together to act as one finger; said ring finger and pinky finger sewn and held substantially together to act as one finger; and a wrist strap for securing glove to wrist;
 2. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein, the index finger and middle finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of the fingers to act as one finger.
 3. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of the fingers to act as one finger.
 4. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the index finger and middle finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 5. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 6. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the index finger and middle finger are sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams to enable the fingers to act as one finger.
 7. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams to enable the fingers to act as one finger.
 8. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the index finger and middle finger are held together by Velcro to act as one finger.
 9. A sports glove of claim 1 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are held together by Velcro to act as one finger.
 10. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove, the method comprising: substantially sewing together the index finger and middle finger to enable them to act as one finger; and substantially sewing together the ring finger and pinky finger to enable them to act as one finger.
 11. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the index finger and middle finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 12. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers to the bottom of the top knuckles of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 13. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the index finger and middle finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the tops of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 14. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn substantially together from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the top of the fingers so that they act as one finger.
 15. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the index finger and middle finger are sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams to enable the fingers to act as one finger.
 16. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are sewn together seamlessly from the bottom of the fingers up past the middle knuckles of each finger and then separated at the seams to enable the fingers to act as one finger.
 17. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the index finger and middle finger are held together by Velcro to act as one finger.
 18. A method of increasing the grip strength of a sports glove as in claim 10 wherein the ring finger and pinky finger are held together by Velcro to act as one finger. 